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February 1st, 2013
The SkillsUSA Ohio State Officer Team
The SkillsUSA National Leadership Center was home to 54 wonderful students and instructors during the week of January 14. The annual training event for Ohio’s regional and state student officers draws upon many of the features in the Washington Leadership Training Institute, but then adds more. State association director, Mike Cowles put together a powerful and packed program.
Training activities included public speaking, teamwork and advocacy. The students got to put their new skills into practice on Wednesday, the 16th, during Capitol Hill visits to the offices of Senator Sherrod Brown and Representatives Bob Gibbs, Marcy Kaptur and Patrick Tiberi. (Republican Members’ offices were closed for an offsite retreat that day.) The students talked about the importance of career and technical education and SkillsUSA in their lives as education, in preparing for their careers, to the economy and to their communities. Mike told me the students had great visits and were polished in the delivery of their messages.
Other highlights for the delegation included a trip to visit the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) facility and to meet their executives; a meeting with the Maryland student state officers and state director Chuck Wallace; and more Washington events including a tour of the Capitol, a wreath laying at the Tomb of the Unknowns, a memorial ceremony at the Pentagon, a walk around The White House and visits to monuments and the Smithsonian. And, I had the pleasure to speak during their banquet just before the students received their Statesman Awards and medallions from their contests. All in all, Mike and his advisors put on a tremendous educational program for the student officers of Ohio.
Click here to view more photos from SkillsUSA Ohio’s Regional Officer Training.
Tags: ASE, Government Relations, Ohio Conference, WLTI
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February 1st, 2013
- On Wednesday, January 9, I traveled with executives from Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) into Washington to visit with Assistant Secretary of Labor, Jane Oates, and her chief of staff to discuss a Department of Labor grant for an automotive employability curriculum.
- Also on January 9, we had a conference call with the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME), its foundation, the National Institute for Metalworking Skills (NIMS) and Haas Automation, Inc. to discuss increasing support from SME for this year’s national conference. Several items are under consideration including supporting more contests and complimentary workshops.
- I’ve written previously about Rebuilding Together and its Kickoff to Rebuild, an annual NFL-sanctioned event to rebuild houses and bring together communities in Super Bowl cities. This year, the SkillsUSA chapter at Bonnabel High School in Louisiana will participate as volunteers.
Tags: ASE, Government Relations, Rebuilding Together, Society of Manufacturing Engineers
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January 15th, 2013
- On December 17th, members of the Office of Business Partnership and Development and Education, Training and Assessments Office joined me for a visit with the CEO of ASE (National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence), and the executive directors of NATEF (National Automotive Technicians Education Foundation) and AYES (Automotive Youth Educational Systems) to talk about strengthening our mutual alliance and capitalizing on a shared vision of our business partners. We also discussed customizing the Professional Development Program (PDP) to make the curriculum auto industry specific. NATEF wants to include employability skills in its curriculum and believes this is a way to do it. We’ll be meeting again soon and will seek funding to design and publish the polished up PDP.
- Staff reported last week that we’ve secured a $50,000 grant from the Alcoa Foundation for the purpose of informing youth about careers in manufacturing in two communities where Alcoa has facilities. We’ll be informing state associations of the locations once Alcoa has determined them.
- We now have state association support for four additional demonstration competitions during this year’s Championships: Community Action Project; Graphic Imaging Sublimation (graphic imaging); Humanoid Robotics (programming robots for dangerous tasks); and, Urban Search and Rescue (a RoboRescue Challenge). This will take us to six demonstration contests and a total of 98 contests overall.
Tags: Alcoa Foundation, ASE, Contests, Highlights, NATEF, Partner News, PDP, Professional Development Program, SkillsUSA Championships
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December 22nd, 2012
SkillsUSA offers 47 technical and employability assessments in 11 cluster areas including four co-branded assessments with ASE/AYES and five co-branded assessments with PrintED/GAERF.
NEW! Teacher Preparation Guides:
Teacher Preparation Guides will be available to assist teachers in preparing students for the Skill Connect Assessments. The first six are scheduled to be released in January: Carpentry, Cosmetology, Criminal Justice/Crime Scene investigation, Television (Video) Production, Nurse Assisting and Welding. The guide will be included as part of the assessment purchase and will be accessible online to the instructor who provided the order.
For information on our assessments visit our Work Force Ready System website at: www.workforcereadysystem.org, contact us at 703-737-0633, ext. 1 or email us at skillconnect@skillsusa.org.
Tags: ASE, AYES, GAERF, Skill Connect Assessments, Work Force Ready System
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June 15th, 2012
- Thanks to an introduction from Board President Russ Hoffbauer, staff and I met on June 7 with the president and senior vice president of Insurance Automotive Auctions (IAA), an automotive recycling business with 160 locations in 48 states. IAA is looking for talent in IT, management trainees and people with automotive experience. They saw a fit with the SkillsUSA mission, and they are interested in getting IAA involved at the state and local levels. They will both be attending conference.
- We reached out to sponsors to support CTE and the student organizations slated for cuts under California Governor Jerry Brown’s school finance reform proposal. I sent email to our sponsors on June 1 and June 6.
- On June 1, we had a very encouraging meeting with the CEO, executive vice president and chief engagement officer and the new student relations director of Project Lead the Way (PLTW). Rosanne White, Technology Student Association (TSA) executive director, joined us. PLTW is interested in working with both organizations again and has reopened discussion on the Engineering Alliance created by TSA and SkillsUSA previously. PLTW wants to increase the number of schools offering its curriculum by 800 next year, and they are very interested in teaching employability skills to students.
- On May 30-31, Arizona State Association Director Carrie Wolf and I went on a recruiting trip to Phoenix to start an Arizona Youth Development Foundation. Four companies have already pledged their support and agreed to serve.
- On May 25, the national staff directors held a retreat to discuss funding priorities with an eye toward achieving Vision 2020 goals. The meeting generated great discussion on SkillsUSA’s message, in addition to helping us take a more comprehensive look at our FY13 strategic plan and beyond. Congratulations go to the staff members who planned and lead the meeting, and thanks to ASE for inviting us to use their headquarters for the retreat.
- The National Coordinating Council of the Career and Technical Student Organizations (NCC-CTSO) met on May 24. One of the primary topics for discussion with Robin Utz from the Office of Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE) was the administration’s blueprint for reform of Perkins. The NCC-CTSO is pleased to have an opportunity for early reaction to the blueprint, and the Council will be preparing its own white paper on the blueprint and Perkins reauthorization.
- Thanks to an introduction from board member Kathy Jo Mannes, I spoke on May 23 with representatives from Skills for America’s Future, an initiative by the administration tied in with The Aspen Institute. Their focus is to help find ways to build business and community college partnerships, and they’re looking to SkillsUSA to help.
- Finally, I was a special guest speaker for the Fredtech 2012 banquet in Fredericksburg, Va. on May 22. The Fredericksburg Chamber of Commerce hosted the event and 21 students – all of them Virginia state medalists – were honored.
Tags: ASE, Board of Directors, Engineering Alliance, Government Relations, Highlights, NLSC, Partner News, Project Lead the Way, TSA, Vision 2020
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April 15th, 2012
- SkillsUSA was invited to help prepare hearings for a subcommittee of the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee on April 17. The hearing will be about the skills gap and how to address it. Our staff met with committee staff on Monday, April 2, to discuss the overall agenda, suggest additional witnesses from among our partners and what SkillsUSA is doing that can add to the hearings.
- On the legislative front, staff attended the National Coordinating Council meeting for the student organizations, and according to a report from the U.S. Department of Education, Perkins is not likely to be folded in with the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and reauthorization of Perkins is more likely in 2015 than next year. In a related development, we also understand that Perkins funds are protected from being folded into a workforce investment fund as originally proposed. NASCTEc worked for the change and reports that Perkins is the only program that cannot be consolidated into the unified workforce plan. And, on March 30, Representative Jim Langevin, co-chair of the bipartisan CTE Caucus presented the 2012 SkillsUSA Rhode Island Outstanding Advisor of the Year award in Cranston. That‘s great visibility for SkillsUSA.
- On March 27, we had a webinar for state association directors on the expanded curriculum and changes to the officer training seminars held during conference, formerly called State Officer 101/201 and advisor training, but now called Leverage (state officers), Activate (chapter leaders) and Engage (advisor training). Seventeen directors joined the webinar and six more have asked for a reprise. Reaction was positive. There have also been six webinars on the Skill Connect Assessments focusing on general administration of the tests and on building student success with the assessments. And, staff reports that four states are using the assessments as part of their state competitions.
- We have 46 applications in for the SkillsUSA WorldTeam. The interview and selection process will begin soon. We also got the good news that Festo will sponsor our 2013 Mechatronics Team.
- Staff reports that the March 23 Chapter Management Institute held here at the national center was attended by 22 teachers from Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Kentucky.
- And, finally, the succession plan approved by the board last year has been reviewed by a local consultant sent our way by Tim Zilke of ASE. The consultant commended the plan overall and had some suggestions that we’ll implement soon.
Tags: ASE, CTSOs, Government Relations, Highlights, Leverage and Activate Training, NASCTEc, Partner News, Perkins legislation, Skill Connect Assessments, Staff News, State Officer and Advisor 101/201, Work Force Ready System, WorldSkills Competition, WorldSkills Germany, WorldTeam
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February 15th, 2012
- Membership continues to run ahead of last year. We have 269,915 members entered now. That’s 715 more than this date last year. More states have surpassed their total membership last year. Congratulations to the following state associations for exceeding last year’s overall membership. They are California, Clay Mitchell; Connecticut, Heidi Balch; Hawaii, Gilbert Chun; Massachusetts, Karen Ward; Mississippi, Andy Sims; New Jersey, Pete Carey; New York high school division, Bruce Potter; Oklahoma, Darren Gibson; Pennsylvania, Jeri Widdowson; Rhode Island, Josh Klemp; and, Virginia, David Rathbone. And, a reminder that professional membership and alumni memberships also count. Individuals such as yourself, industry partners and other friends not affiliated with a local chapter can join, too, online at the following link: www.skills-register.org/rpts/JoinAsProfessional.aspx
- On January 21, I was in Henderson, Nev., at a brand new state-of-the art technical center to do strategic planning with the Nevada board of directors and Mike Pointer. They put together a two-year plan and a copy has gone to Mike Raponi, past SkillsUSA state association director and now state CTE director.
- I recently met with Tim Zilke, CEO of ASE. Mr. Zilke invited in the local expert on nonprofit management and human resource management ASE uses and he’s agreed to review our SkillsUSA succession plan.
Tags: ASE, Government Relations, Highlights, Membership, State News
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February 1st, 2012
We offer 47 industry-driven technical and employability assessments, which include 44 Skill Connect assessments and four automotive assessments offered by our co-vender Automotive Service Excellence (ASE). Information on our assessments and a complete list of the assessment areas available can be found at: www.workforcereadysystem.org.
There are also instructor and administrator resources to help prepare students for testing, a free 10-question demonstration of each Skill Connect Assessment, an option to purchase a 50-question sample test for $10 per assessment area and links to purchase a Skill Connect Assessment for student testing or for instructor or administrator preview.
Tags: ASE, Skill Connect Assessments, Work Force Ready System
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June 15th, 2009
- It appears we’re still on track for a record attendance and the largest ever National Leadership and Skills Conference. We’re up 100 competitors from last year with about 5,400 and that’s after cutting back on some contests. We’ve picked up a few more TECHSPO exhibitors. The press kit and the trade releases are both online at www.skillsusa.org/about/news.shtml.
- Staff and I had a good series of meetings at the U.S. Department of Labor on May 20. It appears we may have the Skill Connect Assessments listed among the DOL’s list of approved assessments. There’s also interest in SkillsUSA models for instruction.
- Speaking of the Skill Connect Assessments, on Wednesday the 27th we received an update on sales. In the 53 days on the market, 1459 assessments have been sold. They’ve been used in 23 states. The Employability assessment is the most popular with Welding and Advertising Design second and third. Staff reports that we will have 36 Skill Connect Assessments ready for test-drive demonstrations during conference.
- ASE reports that the three automotive assessments we’re doing together have sold beyond expectations. On May 21, they had 21,478 tests assigned and the vast majority of them had been taken.
- And, I’m happy to report we have a new member on the Youth Development Foundation, Lynn Scheitrum, who is the manager for Talent Management and Central Staffing for Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. We look forward to having her with us.
Tags: ASE, Highlights, NLSC, Skill Connect Assessments, Youth Development Foundation
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